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'A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness, but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing' Keats

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About Me

I am lucky enough to work from home indulging my passion for vintage & antique textiles, haberdashery & other paraphernalia that I just can't live without. I am partial to chippy paintwork, faded photographs & reading cards & letters that have long ago lost their owners. I realise that I will never make my fortune doing what I love, but the pleasure I get from hand~making something completely unique is reward enough. Working with treasures in the form of textiles, buttons, beads & trims is a privilege and I strive every day to learn more about their past.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

So, by way of a little treat to my fellow bloggers, followers and customers to say thank you for your continued support and comments, I have a little giveaway...

The current, most lovely and inspirational issue of Jeanne D'Arc Living magazine!

I have been selling this gorgeous publication via my website and at fairs for just over a year now and have built up a great following of subscribers and regular customers ~ thank you for loving it as much as I do!

This is a really inspiring issue. Sometimes I look at beautifully styled photographs of interiors and feel that they are unachievable in our real, often less than perfect lives and homes, but this week I decided to experiment and tried to re~create some of the ideas in the magazine. OK, I know my house is not on the same scale and I probably don't have the same budget either, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could take just a little inspiration from the pages and bring the concept to life. I used items that I already had in the cupboards or in stock ~ here are my interpretations of the photos...

Photo ~ Jeanne D'Arc Living

Photo ~ Ali

I have this Edwardian silk bodice already hanging on hooks in my dining room and just moved it to an old grey painted cupboard for the photo...

I loved this collection below of vintage candlesticks ~ I have a selection dotted around the house and tucked away so gathered them altogether to recreate the look...

Photo ~ Jeanne D'Arc Living

Photo ~ Ali (the fireplace in my dining room)

We have a conker brown leather sofa in the kitchen, normally piled up with old French floral pillows, but liked the idea shown in the magazine of using simpler linen cushions with old printed text and remembered what I had in stock waiting to be photographed for the website...

Photo ~ Jeanne D'Arc Living

I just need to source an old leather trunk or suitcase for a coffee table to complete the look...

Finally, I loved this feature on how to transform a printer's tray. I have a couple of these that I use in my workroom to separate beads and buttons. Before Christmas I reworked this smaller modern wooden tray and used old wallpaper, book pages and white paint.

Photo ~ Jeanne D'Arc Living

My own effort!

If you would like to win the latest issue of Jeanne D'Arc Living magazine, just leave a comment at the end of this post ~ the giveaway is open to all wherever you are in the world. To be entered twice and double your chances, just post a link back to this page and mention my blog and don't forget to let me know!

The giveaway closes next Tuesday 31st January at midnight and the winner will be announced on the 1st February.